I assume the existence of God

as does the Bible. The opening words of Scripture say 'beresheet bara Elohim' (in the beginning, God). Where God came from is not mentioned. The absolute sovereignty and holiness and awesomeness and power of God is taken for granted. The proof of the existence of God is not the Bible's aim. (But see Psalm 19:1) Rather, it is assumed that God exists, that He rules over us like a king and loves us like a father and asks that we take care of ourselves, of each other and the earth.

What proof, scientific or rational or logical can be proffered to eliminate doubt from the skeptic's mind? I doubt that any such proof can be had. For whatever we can point to as 'proof' of the existence of God can also be pointed to as proof of something else. The heavens declare the handiwork of God? No, they merely show that there are other stars and planets and galaxies in the universe. People are willing to die for their beliefs? That merely prooves they hold tightly to what they believe. For people of conflicting faiths will hold just as firmly to their own faith no matter the circumstance. The diversity of nature, the complexity of the human body, these are taken as proofs of evolution, not as proof of God. What about the miracles as recorded in the Bible with the sea splitting and the dead being resurrected and the bread and fish multiplying and the widow's oil supply not running out and the sun standing still? And again it will be argued that there is no extra Biblical evidence to support these claims. People have heard God speaking to them? Really? How do we know they weren't hallucinating? A person who spoke as the prophets did of old would probably be classified as mentally unstable.

And to all this, what can we say? I say, I don't have to prove the existence of God to you or anybody else. My belief in God rests not on scientific proof. It is not logical. The objection could be raised as to why don't I believe in any of the other gods that are worshipped? Or why not just bow down to the Flying Spaghetti Monster or believe in the Tooth Fairy or the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus? It would seem to make just as much sense to believe in any of those (for which we have no proof) as to believe in the LORD, maker of heaven and earth.

But there is a fundamental difference between all the other pagan gods and fairies and monsters and whatever else is worshipped as a god and the God of the Bible. For none of these other idols can be compared to the Great God, mighty and awesome Who demands justice and righteousness and love and mercy and is not moved by vain oblations and human sacrifice but asks that we love each other as ourselves.

The difference that my assumption of God makes for me is in how I view the world. The Bible makes clear that God created the heavens and the earth in an orderly way with purpose and meaning and created us in His image and therefore our lives have purpose and meaning. We are not here by accident. We are to walk in His ways. We are to revere Him because He is the Supreme Judge and King. We are to love Him because He showed us special love in creating us and redeemed us from bondage. This can be seen either in the physical sense of freedom from bondage to Pharaoh or in the spiritual sense of freedom from bondage to sin. In either case, we owe God a tremendous debt that cannot be fully repaid. He is infinte, we are finite. His glory and holiness and majest far transcends our puny existence. And yet, He deigned to create us and call us for His glory. We are to love each other as ourselves. We are all created betzelem elohim (in the image of God) and when we hurt one another, we tarnish that image. We are to take care of the earth and its inhabitants for so He commanded us.

What other entity worshipped as a god-pagan diety or idol or fairy or goddess or sun or moon or plant or animal or river-is like our God? As it is said, mi chamocha ba'alim Adonai (who is like You, among the gods, oh Lord?) Exodus 15:11